McNeill, Bell lead Falcons
Meanwhile, for Westosha Central, the Falcons were led by seniors Reid McNeill and Zach Bell.

McNeill and Bell, both of whom had a different set of challenges, each finished third.

For McNeill, dropped a quarterfinal match to Badger’s Patrick Keplar on a 11-7 decision, but came back to defeat the Lake Geneva wrestler in the third place bout on a pin at 4:34.

According to Falcons coach Jason Ladd, the two have had tight contests in the past, but McNeill stepped up when needed.

“They had a really close match in our dual a couple of weeks ago, Reid won that right at the buzzer,” Ladd said. “After that (1st round) loss, we were just focused on winning out….and we ended up beating him in the third place match.”

Unlike last year, when McNeill only had four other wrestlers to contend with in his weight class, Saturday’s bracket brought eight competitors.

“It was definitely harder for me this year because I had a full eight man bracket,” he said.

Bell, at 182, won three of his four matches, but dropped his semifinal bout to fourth-ranked Nathan Crayton of Burlington.

“Zach had a tough second round match against Nathan Crayton,” Ladd said. “Nathan is a top tier ranked wrestler.”

McNeill credited Bell’s off season work ethic, which made him stronger and more confident, even against tough competitors.

“Zach worked his butt off this offseason and really focused on his neutral work and got noticeably better on the mat,” McNeill said. “He’s just been a lot more confident.”